functional pottery

I build functional pots out of white stoneware. My tools are simple: a knife, a serrated metal rib, a sponge, a brush. All of my work is hand-built from slabs of clay. I love working with slabs like fabric; the pots are sewn together, scored along the edges, nipped and tucked together to make rounded forms from sheets of clay.

Using a Chinese calligraphy brush, I paint bone dry pots with under-glaze stains, which act like an ink wash or watercolors on the absorbent surface of the clay. I scratch and carve into the drawings, adding and removing details. The pin tool is both pencil and eraser, adding white to the drawing. I use wax to create motifs that are reminiscent of printed patterns.

I love the immediacy of the connection people make with images of animals. Pattern and color anchor my animals to the pots. They serve as frames, and backgrounds, so that the animals exist in their own narrow space around the pots.

Eden

Reef

Reef view from below shelf

Good Bunny/Bad Bunny Teapot

Cups and Mugs (Carolina Wren, Downy Woodpecker, Goldfinch)

Coffea Arabica

Small and Medium Bowls

Mugs (Hedgehog, Goat, Donkey)

Carolina Wren with Blue Iznik Patterns

Cedar Waxwing Pitcher

EdenWhite stoneware viper wall shelf with wren teapot

ReefLarge stoneware Coral Reef Fish Wall Shelf with Pelican Pitcher

Reef view from below shelf

Good Bunny/Bad Bunny Teapot

Cups and Mugs (Carolina Wren, Downy Woodpecker, Goldfinch)

Coffea ArabicaA set of five espresso cups with over-caffeinated primates on ceramic shelves decorated with images of coffee berries and flowers.